Interleukin-1 Beta (IL-1β) and Cognitive Complaints in Patients with Chronic Human Herpesviruses 6 Infection
Irina A Rakityanskaya*, Tatiana S Ryabova and Anastasiya A Kalashnikova
ABSTRACT
Background and Aims: Cytokines are signaling molecules produced by immune and non-immune cells that affect the periphery and brain, participating in the regulation of acute and chronic inflammation. This study examined IL-1β production in patients with reactivated chronic Human Herpesviruses 6 infection (HHV6).
Methods: The study included 66 patients with chronic HHV6 infection (50 women and 16 men). Average age: 34.67 ± 1.21 years. Disease duration: 2.83 ± 0.14 years. All patients were tested for HHV6 DNA copy number using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in saliva samples and for interleukin-1β (IL-1β) production in culture medium.
Results: The HHV6 DNA copy number in patients was 1114.24±180.27 (95% CI: 767.74 - 1491.17). The serum HHV6 IgG antibody content was 4.20±0.29 (95% CI: 3.65 - 4.78) and was present in all patients, regardless of the severity of cognitive complaints. The content of serum and spontaneous IL-1β was within the reference values. The level of induced IL-1β was elevated in all patients (2382.03±277.90 pg/ml, (95% CI: 1909.35–2985.25)) and exceeded the reference values by 1.98 times. Linear and logistic regression showed a relationship between the level of induced IL-1β and the number of HHV6 DNA copies (p=0.001 and p=0.000), which was confirmed by ANOVA analysis of variance (p=0.001). An association between induced IL-1β and cognitive complaints was found and confirmed by ANOVA.
Conclusions: Logistic regression and variance analysis revealed a relationship between induced IL-1β and cognitive complaints in patients.
